OOC: Please let @Finnulf post first c: Ey, Finn! Less'go! Cirilla demands with a click of her tongue and a slap of her tail against her sleeping brother's form. She wanted to get out of the Cove today, and she wanted to take her favourite brother with her. Emrik was sleeping, and their mother was busy, so it was the perfect time to slip away without being noticed. Without waiting any longer, the brown-pelted Princess turned and slipped away. She knew the quickest and most hidden routes through the Cove - whether Finnulf was quick enough to follow her through these, though, was a different story. Eventually, the troublesome duo made it out of the Cove without a hitch. I heard of this place called Ob... obseeedan hell, she begins as they trot through the surrounding territories that landlocked their home. Thought it would be cool to go 'n' see what it's all about? She states, looking to her larger brother before taking the lead on the directions. She'd heard that it was south from their home, so that's the way she tried to go. Towards the mountains, she'd heard. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, they arrived at Obsidian's borders. It was dark, and surprisingly underground. It took a moment for the Princess' rosé eyes to adjust, but once they had, she was in awe at the place. She was unaware that it was a pride: from what she understood, this was where Vellen willed his enemies to die. Hell, right? The lava tubes and midnight coloured stones that decorated the side of the Hollows only further confirmed her belief. Looking at her brother, she grinned with pride. What'cha think? Pretty neat, huh? Cirilla gleams, stepping over the border and walking over to the lava tubed walls. Vellen sends lions 'ere to die. Look! She remarks as she points at the wall.

ODE TO FURY

▽ The sound of Cirilla’s voice echoed into his sleeping mind, interrupting a dream where he was battling a giant fish. He had just gotten the upper hand, having latched onto its back. That’s when it turned to him, wall-eyes and fishy lips smacking: "Less’go!" Disgusted, he’d reeled back into the sea only to wake with a start as Cirilla slapped him with her tail. A growl was in his throat but before he could say anything, his senses roused and he realized what was doing on. With a conspiratorial nod, he slunk behind her and out of the den, with a glance over his shoulder and a brief hesitation. He felt bad leaving Emrik, but also didn’t want to be left behind – himself. After the pause, his large paws gripped the earth to propel him after Cirilla.

She spoke of the place she intended to drag him to, and he wrinkled his maw with an exaggerated sneer. "What a ridiculous name. " But his wicked enthusiasm betrayed his excitement to see such a place.

His sister had a frightening grasp on lesser-known nooks and crannies in the cove. Finnulf was halfway convinced she had secret tunnels stashed under their feet, passages that tangled every which way. He admired her resourcefulness, but lacked her dedication. In short, he was just too damn lazy to do that much scouting. But adventures such as this made his heart burn with an ancient ferocity. Once they had reached the open wilds beyond their home, his pace at times outmatched Cirilla as he stretched his legs and sucked in the danger and the freedom. With a bit of a twinge in his gut, he noticed how far spread the mist was. Even so, he wouldn’t let it deter him. Seeing a boulder, he ran and jumped with his back legs aimed at its side to kick off from it and twist his body in the air: his version of a kickflip. Landing it with precision after twirling his body in the air, he grinned toothily back at his sister. As if daring her to try it.

He didn’t tire of the length of their journey, instead letting his jaws slacken to taste the exotic scents, his mind going to prey and food. He gaped at the mountains like they were giants with axes held high. As they found the entrance to the caverns, his demeanor shifted a bit to accommodate an extra weight of tension. The merle boy got closer to his sister, lifting his eyes up at the walls and the strange looking rocks. Like charcoal dripping. This place invited images of chthonic creatures to his imagination, reminding him of the mist. He stood ready to defend them, fuzzy ears swiveling, a seriousness having etched into his face. Cirilla could handle herself, but he couldn’t help his instinct to flank her smaller form.

"Why wouldn’t Vellen just kill them himself?" He asked, while examining the strange rock formations. He sniffed the air, dank and almost charred. There was something else that made his fur stand on end. "Ciri, stay close, allt í lagi?" Okay? He said, bumping his shoulder roughly against her’s.

"If there’s lions dying in here, they’re probably pissed. " Dropping the cuss word with little concern, like he did it all the time, he glanced at his sister as she stepped over the border with equal irreverence. Finnulf couldn’t help but hesitate, but it only lasted a milliseconds and he quickly closed the distance between them. "How do they die?" He asked quietly. Lack of oxygen? Monsters? Fumes? Actually, how did Cirilla know all this?

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@Cirilla

Ever since the ominous mist had appeared and stolen away members of the pride, Hiccup would wake and head to the entry of the Hollow, to see what — if anything — had changed. He always hoped to see any of the missing members, but he would’ve liked to see that the haze had vanished, too. Sadly, he doubted either would greet him that day.

Before he could round the tunnel and step into the muted light that filtered through the mist, the sound of young, unfamiliar voices reached him — something about Vellen. The name alone was enough to cause the hair running down Hiccup’s neck and spine to prickle, but hearing how Vellen supposedly sentenced lions to death by sending them into the Hollow made him roll his eyes. Oh, please …

Hiccup could’ve revealed himself then and asked them what they were doing, but he decided to press himself behind a stalagmite that had been created by the lava that had once flowed through the tunnels. He cupped his ears forward, listening. “How do they die?” a quiet voice asked and Hiccup, feeling unusually mischievous, smirked from his hiding place.

“We … ” he began in a low chuckle, before making his move: leaping from behind his shadowy spot and bounding into the trespassers' path, landing some distance from them to roar, “EAT THEM!”

coded by flea | artwork by ale-tie

EAT THEM! @Hiccup's roar reverberated through the tunnels before making its way into the sovereign's den. Being a bit of a light sleeper lately, body too on edge to ignore any sound that might be his son's return, Roan woke with a start at the commotion. Minty gaze blinked away the sleep, eyes barely shut long enough to accumulate anything in the first place. A second passed of dazed awareness before the gravity of such a sound settled into his mind as it flickered back to life. What was that?

Without another moment wasted, the Hodari sprang to his feet, mind already thinking the very worst when the mist was at the forefront of every thought lately. Something had happened. Someone else was gone. Hiccup seemed to have a knack for being there when the mist took another soul, so surely that must be what was happening again. The actual words of 'eat them' were lost upon the male, though, only resonating with the loudness and ferocity with wish the roar was uttered. The panic rose up once more only to be doused when the sovereign finally found his Gentry in the company of two young children. "What's going on?" the masked man questioned while trying to keep the anxiety he had just been feeling from showing in his posture. Coming up alongside Hiccup, Roan's nostrils flared to the scent of the Cove within their tunnels. What were these kids doing here form Caladan?

@Finnulf @Cirilla

Table & Ref by Amanda | Background | Base

the smell of two of her children are not present when ulla returns to her den. only little emrik, the obedient one he is, seems to have not slipped through her senses. it's now time for her children to be independent, but this independency bleeds into recklessness and carelessness. she doesn't want to cause unneeded strife between her and whatever group her cubs stumble upon. especially if it's another pride not belonging to her kin. though she chuffs for @Emrik to follow if he wants, ulla is more inclined to find his siblings by herself. she stumbles into the land of the hollows, her old haunt and home, and sees both @Finnulf and @Cirilla greeted by the high sovereign @Roan and the familiar face of @Hiccup. seeing these two brings a degree of relief into ulla's mind, for half of it is at first clouded by tension. she chuffs toward the two, noting that hiccup is now bigger than the last time she saw him. greetings, i guess introductions are in order she states, coming up to cirilla's side before giving both her and finn a glare. this is cirilla, my youngest, and her brother finnulf. she knows not why her two cubs are here. but it's good they traveled to an ally instead of an enemy pride. i apologize for my cubs' trespass; i am sure they will say their half of the apology at this moment.

table by ferus

There was a sense of naïvety to the princess as she crossed over Obsidian's borders without concern. Who was she to know that this was a border to a pride when she had never been here before? Finn knew no better either, so when she began to point at the wall and exclaim that this was where Vellen sends lions to die, the Cove Princess was quite in her element. She shrugged at @Finnulf's questions. I dunno. Maybe 'cos he has other stuff to do? Cirilla guesses, looking at her brother briefly before looking back at the wall that had flame ripples running through it. The girl moves a little further into Obsidian territory, following the flow of the rock formation. Finn asked how they died: the answer was simple. Vellen forces 'em into the rocks, an' they burn. The girl's chest puffs out with a sense of pride at knowing this information, watching her brother's reaction carefully. Adrenaline was running through her veins, knowing that if their mother had found out that they had slipped out of the Cove and got themselves somewhere where they shouldn't be, they'd be in trouble. But the likelihood of that happening? Cirilla thought it would be minimal. The initial arrival of @Hiccup was lost on the two children, as he remained hidden easily within the shadows. Cirilla continued to talk about the lions that had been sent to die inside the cave walls. I 'eard that if they don't burn, then they die of 'ung-- but before she could finish her sentence, the figure of Hiccup erupted into their path. Rosé eyes snap away from the wall and onto the red figure of the maned male, her legs scrambling against the cold stone as she tried to move backwards out of panic. Tiny teeth bare as blackened lips peel backwards along with her ears as they pin back against her crown, a hiss being thrown in his direction. She would never admit that she was scared by Hiccup's entrance - she was too bold and brash. @Roan was quick to follow his Gentry's question with one of his own. Cirilla looks at the older and larger male, and begins to realize that perhaps, just perhaps, she and Finn should not actually be here. But before she could answer, @Úlla arrives and there is both a swell of annoyance, anger and embarrassment that swells in her chest. She is quick to apologize and demand their apology. We were lookin' at where Vellen sends lions to die, She comments with a pout, refusing to acknowledge exactly what they had done wrong. I dint' realize we were trespassin'! Cirilla exclaims, looking to Finn in the hope that he would back up her claims. Her ears come forward now, as she stands up taller and relaxes after the scare from Hiccup. We did nuffin' wrong. She grumbles as she glares at her mother, reluctant to apologise for just being curious.

ODE TO FURY
▽ Finnulf was giving his sister a dubious look when his soul left his body. WE EAT THEM! The mighty prince of the cove flew vertically into the air as though gravity had momentarily lapsed, hackles like a sudden frill down the length of his lanky body. "FOKK!" He yelled, as soon as his paws landed back on the ground and he aimed to shove himself in front of Cirilla, putting himself between the cannibal and his sister. Yet even with his chivalrous gesture, his legs quivered under him. "GET BACK!" He said, voice shaking in the middle of his syllable, squaring up on @Hiccup, the certainty of death and dismemberment glistening in his wide eyes. "OR I’LL…I’LL-" Another one of them showed, and Finn yowled at @Roan, his nerves buzzing like someone had kicked a hive of wasps in his chest.

"CIRI, we need to GO. NOW." He whirled around on Cirilla, aiming to huddle her into his chest and usher her along and back out the way they came. But before he got the chance, another figure more terrifying than any of them appeared as a tower over them. Finnulf shrunk back as @Úlla approached, turning back at the cave lions. Despite the fact that his heart still hammered in his chest, the presence of the Caladon Queen seemed to ease his fight or flight response at least somewhat. But embarrassment and shame was beginning to replace his adrenaline, and as Cirilla exclaimed their reasoning for being there...Finnulf’s ears swiveled back and he shot her an evil side-glance. This is all your fault, you creten. Even so, he was no snitch. "We were just exploring..." He said through clenched jaws, the merle fur on his back finally starting to ease. He looked at the male with the sweepy mane, and then at the one as furry as a buffalo. "We didn’t know lions would choose to live in caves." He said the word like it disgusted him, mumbling under his breath as an aside, but stole a glance up at his mother none the less with an almost-wince, hoping she wouldn’t chastise him further for degrading their choice in home.

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Hiccup may not have had a mean bone in his body, but he certainly had a mischievous one. The yearling leaped from his hiding place and roared out, which invoked QUITE the response from the little trespassers. A perfectly reasonable response, of course, but an amusing one, too. Hiccup saw how one bared her teeth and scrambled back while her brother (he assumed, anyway) nearly jumped out of his fur, yet bravely pushed himself in front of the other, shielding her from his “wrath”. He yelled at him to get back, then yowled at @Roan — wait, Roan?! — before moving to push his companion, Ciri, away from them.

Before he could contain them, giggles bubbled from Hiccup’s chest when he stood upright and looked back at his king. “I think I scared them,” he whispered as he brought his paw up to cover his muzzle, directing his voice through the side of his mouth to keep the children from picking up on it. “I overheard them. They think this is where ‘Vellen’ sends lions to die.” Though he was smiling, the young male rolled his eyes at the belief. However, when he realized that the children were likely Sigrún, and that they had certainly been drowned before, the smile diminished …

The boy’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of @Úlla, who must’ve come looking for the children. Her presence was … bittersweet now. He liked her, but knowing what her family did to children — what Asteria had done to become one of them … Where he had once giggled, now the yearling hiccuped — only once, and quietly. For now.

His former sovereign introduced her children — @Cirilla and @Finnulf — and set them up to apologize, though they seemed resistant. Cirilla confirmed what Hiccup had mentioned to Roan, causing the yearling to give him a glance before his attention realigned itself on the cubs. “Who told you Vellen sends lions here to die?” he inquired with an arched brow. “Your mom used to rule here, you know, when I was your age.” Well, maybe a little younger, but it didn’t really matter. What was important was that the children realized that their impression of the Hollow was wrong. They clearly thought poorly of it — but how would they view it now, knowing their mother had once reigned over the tunnels?

coded by flea | artwork by ale-tie

Whatever the two kids had been doing prior to his arrival had surely been thwarted with @Hiccup's jump-scare. One child frantically back-pedaled away from them while hissing at the Gentry. The boy seemed even more frightened but then managed to pluck up the nerve to at least protect his sister as he moved in front of @Cirilla before yowling in Roan's direction. The mauve man hardly flinched at the sight, knowing that these children likely belonged to the Cove by their scent. Maybe they were even Sigrun, and thus, of no threat to the Hollow. Not that the kids themselves would have been a threat either way, but if they had come from family on less-than-friendly terms with Obsidian, it would be a different story to be caught within their territory.

I think I scared them. Hiccup's whispered comment was met with a sarcastic expression upon the king's face. "Ya think?" he smirked back in a whisper of his own before the Gentry confirmed the king's suspicions about them being Sigrun. If they were talking about Vellen, then surely they were. @Úlla's arrival only further cemented that fact while claiming the cubs as her own children. Cirilla and @Finnulf, as they were introduced. "No harm done," the masked man nodded with little fan-fare towards the Caladan queen's apology for her children's transgressions.

Minty gaze looked over the children with a faintly amused expression forming over the king's face. The little girl seemed adamant with her beliefs that they had done nothing wrong in trespassing. While Roan believed that they might not have known they were trespassing, he found it hard to believe that any child of Ulla was not already taught what trespassing was at this age, and thus they should know what it means to do so in another pride's territory. Lucky for them, though, Obsidian was probably the best option for them to 'accidentally' wander into. The boy went on to back up the claim that they were just exploring before questioning one's desire to actually choose to live in the caves. "Keeps us dry," the tired king offered offhandedly, though he doubted it would matter much to the children at this point.

A brow rose then towards Hiccup as he mentioned that Ulla, herself, had ruled here before. She was the last ruler before Roan, actually, but the Sigrun reign went even farther than that. "And your Uncle Magnus before her," Roan decided to add in to the Gentry's words. ("There used to be a lot of Sigruns here." Though the Hodari had never actually visited during Magnus's reign, considering the amount of Obsidian lions that had been at the birthday party Kiton threw for his kids back in Ecrosia, it wasn't hard to assume their numbers. Not to mention how many Sigruns there were in Amaryllis now.... They had to have started somewhere. Anyway, if the kids knew that their own family used to live in the caves, maybe they'd think a little differently about anyone wanting to call Obsidian home.

Table & Ref by Amanda | Background | Base

ooc: gonna wrap this up, if that's okay! i'd be more than happy to have cirilla meet roan and hiccup again, n talk all things vellen and family c: as time went by, and she stood there, cirilla felt herself getting smaller and smaller. how was she to know that obsidian was a pride territory, and she had trespassed into it when she didn't know what prides were in amaryllis? the girl frowned at her mother and audibly sighed, shaking her head. @Hiccup addressed cirilla and she looked up at him, pausing for a moment whilst she thought of an answer. i 'eard rumours of it. can't remember who from, though... she remarks with a shrug. but before she could say anything else, hiccup revealed a rather interesting piece of information. cirilla looked up at her mother with wide eyes, before looking back at the red lion. dats' sooo coool! she exclaims, before looking back to her mother. you never said! she remarks almost in confusion - why wouldn't she tell her children that she used to rule here? that was such a cool piece of information! and it turned out that her family went back much further than just ulla ruling obsidian - magnus had too, though cirilla had never properly met her uncle who had brought the sigrun to amaryllis in the first place. she turned to @Roan and hiccup. sorry about the whole... tresspass 'fing. but... ya sure do 'ave an interesting place! she hums, and then dips her head. come on @Finnulf, let's go 'ome. and with that, cirilla turns to leave. EXIT